Visiting Cannizaro Park

Wimbledon Station (London Underground and British Rail) is a 20 minute walk away.

The 93 Bus stop just outside Wimbledon Village on the edge of the common from where Cannizaro Park is a 8-10 minute walk across the common.

Car parking is very limited - although there are some pay and display bays on The Causeway.

Guides To Cannizaro Park

Cannizaro Park is a haven for a large variety of the native British fauna, mammals and birds. Chris Mountford, chair of the Friends of Cannizaro Park, has compiled three guides to view as you walk around the park.

If you are downloading these on a mobile, please note that each guide is about 1Mb in size.

THE AVIARY

The aviary, which is a very popular attraction in the park, especially with children, was built in 1976 and was looked after by London Borough of Merton until 2008. After that time, the care of the aviary and its birds passed to The Friends of Cannizaro Park.

There are no wild birds in the aviary. All the birds having been bred in captivity and cannot be set free because they would die from being unable to access food such as seeds (many of the birds are seed eaters) or be attacked by predators like magpies, sparrow hawks or parakeets. Apart from those that have bred in the aviary most of these birds are Rescue Birds, having come from homes where the owner cannot look after them any longer. Cockatiels, for example can live between 15-20 years, so they are a long term life and love commitment.

Some of the types of birds you will see in the aviary are cockatiels, zebra finch, quails, canaries, java sparrows and kakariki.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Yes – Birds are visited and fed daily. The volunteers that care for the aviary and birds are all vetted,
trained and are bird lovers. A vet specialising in Birds visits every 3 months and treats sick birds
when required.

The birds in the aviary have been cage bred outside so they are not affected by the colder nights or
days. Rescue birds do acclimatise and they have nest boxes to sleep in as well as building their own
nests. Transparent screens are put up in the winter to keep the wind and rain out.

Many of the birds are rescue birds so we always welcome offers. However if the bird has been living
inside for most of its life with central heating there is a chance that it will not survive. We deal with
all donations on a cases-by- case basis so please get in touch to discuss - please contact us via our contact page.

Donate :
It costs £10 a week to feed the birds fresh vegetables. If you can donate, lettuce, cucumber, broccoli,
apples or corn it would be so appreciated. Please leave donated vegetables at the back door.
If you would like to become a volunteer to help out at the aviary, please contact us via our contact page.

Donate

We really hope you have enjoyed your visit to Cannizaro Park. The Friends of Cannizaro Park are a charity who rely on donations and we would really appreciate any donations you are able to make. We will be adding online donations to the website soon.